Damper



y 19490 J. E. MAYNARD E1- AL 2,471,980

DAMPER Filed May 1, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l HND PAUL O. COZL/NS j M W 1977'0R/VEY Filed May I, 1945 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 1949- J. E. MAYNARD ET AL 2,471,980

DAMPER /M D P40; 0. COLL/N5 #TTORNEY Eitentecl May 31, 1949 em'rso ATENT $471,980 DAMPER Jehn-ErMay-fiara; Detroit, Mich, and Pa'ul'OuGolli'ns, Elyria, Ohio Appiieafib'ii"1;1945, Serial No. 591,278

9-"Clairh's." (01. 98-106) Our invention relates todariipers-and more" particularly to an improved damper for use in air conditioning or heatii ig-systenis;

In Patent No. 2,2'84,9l2"'granted joint1y""to us on" June 2, 1942, animproved'typ'e of am er construction is disclosed for use in air condition-' ing systemsand the like that introdudes'a'static pressure and an exten'ded plenum chamber ma stackhead or air outlet' in advance of the damper.

It is the purpose of the presentl'invention'to provide a damper of the type disclosed inthe abovementioned patent that has all the" advantages enumerated in' that patent 'butwhicli 'is'ior'ined of a smaller number of partsan'd consequentlyis' less expensive to manufacture; U

Our invention will be'better' un'der'stbodbyfrei erence to the accompanying? drawingsi'rfwhic Fig. l is a ers ective-viewera stackhadwr duct with our improved damper iii place;

' "th linj orf duct installed in a position to "convey conditioned or heated air to a'room; thedarnper bl'ajdbeing shown in full'lines in a partially'opeirpositioW" and in dotted lines in closed position? I Fig. 3 is'a cross sectional view ofaiiotherforni of our improved damper; the dampefbl'adebein'gf shown in full linesin-a partiallyopen?position and in dotted lines inan alino'st"op'en position Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailview"ofthedanipei shown irr'Fig. 2 withparts in elevation aiid'pa'rts in section and with the damper blade shownin' full; lines" in a partially open position and in* dottedf lines in a second position in which"th'edamper blade is almostcompletely"open?' I Fig; 5 is an enlarged detail 'view'showi'rigfa" modified method of attaching the coil' spring to the adjusting stud; v I I I Fig. 6 is "a-plan' view ofthe' 'head OFthe-a'd'iustins-stu Fig '7 is a detail view of a portion of the-damperblade asseen from a plane passingthrou'gh the line 1-101 Fig. 3, looking in the"directiofi of" the arrows, withthe coil spring omitted;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to that fsh'o'wnin'Figj. '7 as seen from a plane *passing through the line; 8-8 of Fig. 4; looking mine-directionofthe' arrows; and

' the stackhea'd or duct and whilefa'ny s Fig. 9 is a crosssectional' view'on the'li'ne il e of Fig. 8.

Our improved damper maybe mountedinanyi suitable "duct portion" of an air cOnditioningfor the stackhead or duct as indicated b'ythe 2' duct which may constitute part of diners-trait conditioning or heating systemi As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, thed I is pivotally attached to the" upper means may be provided for thispurpos trated more particularly'in Fig; iofthe'fdra a rod 3 is maintainedadjac entthe 51a the stackhead 0r duct by means of" ti each of which has one end attached wallof' the stackhead'or" duct by suit'a such asa rivet 5, and"tlieotheren is coiled around and serves as a 16 red 3 as indicated by" the nurneralli and o e v of'the damper blade hasportionsputouttd ceive the coiled portions cramp i and'the maining portion of the upper edge 'of'the d blade is curled around rod 'td 1forr'nfa'p voted joint as indicated more particularly by tlihu meral i in Fig. 4 of the drawing;

While the foregoingstructure issiniil disclosed in Patent No. 2,284,912- I enc'e has been made, in the presentinv ntidn proved means are providedto adjiistfth dain blade to the desired position iriclud spring 8 which is threaded through age 9 in the damper blade and while var may be provided for supportingsprin tion to perform this function; air-11min Figs. 1; 2 and 4, ab'racket 10.'is upper wall of the stackhe'ad 'orfduct inan sired manner. Asshown, the bra'ck'et is prov Wit/hi3, laterally extendingiian'ge' l [which is s eted or otherwise secured"to jthe"upper wa lz'and the free end of the bracketextfndfs wardly and is 'providedwitl'i a recess" or'lo'p I3 to receive a stud ill to which onendf spring 8 is secured. Stud l iis'p'ro'vid outer and inner flanges I5 and i6 arra" opposite sides of bracket "ii El'and thef'out fiange'l 5 is provided with'meansjjsuch IT, to receive a suitable tool when stud and While notches ll'm'ay be "b "a form, as illustrated, the'y'are arra e to a Phillips head\vhichrequirsaspe al ulating tool so that the'darnp'erfblajdef adjusted by those unfamiliar with"'th v Spring 8 may be attached to theshanlio, Mj in any desired rnanner so fth at'thwill rotate in unison withth'estud." Foi' thespring inay'be'wound tightly are d theshan of the stud to"provide fri'ctional 'e'n'g riien't', if desired, such frictiohal'engag' en h an 'apeltfiein the shank of the stud to receive the free end of the spring which may be bent radially inwardly from the coil as indicated by the numeral I8 in Fig. 4 of the drawing. Another and more positive methd of attaching the spring to the shank of the stud is by soldering or welding the spring in place as indicated by the numeral IS in Fig. 5.

To provide a smoothly working damper blade that may be accurately and rapidly adjusted, one side of the damper blade is provided with a depression adjacent to aperture 9 to receive a portion of one of the coils of spring 8 as it approaches the aperture and with an embossment in arcuate alignment therewith through which one end of aperture 9 extends and which provides a groove on the opposite side of the damper blade to receive the spring after it passes through the aperture. The opposite side of the damper blade is of course formed or shaped in the opposite manner, that is, an embossment is formed opposite to the depression and a depression i formed opposite to the embossment and while we do not desire to be limited to the particular shape of such depressions and embossments, a illustrated in the drawings, the depressions on the side id of the damper blade is in the form of a groove 241 as illustrated in Fig. 8 which forms an embossment 2| on the opposite side lb of the damper blade. The groove is in arcuate alignment with an embossment 22 on the side la of the damper blade which as shown is substantially U-shaped in cross section and forms a groove 23 on the opposite side lb of the damper blade. One end of embossment 22 is in abutting relation to one end of groove 20 and the aperture 9 extends through the embossment 22 at the point at which it abuts groove 20.

By providing such an arrangement, it will be apparent that the coil in passing through the damper blade in either direction will first follow the groove on one side of the damper blade and will then pass smoothly through the aperture into the groove on the opposite side of the damper blade, irrespective of the rotative direction of stud l4, and aperture 9 may be formed of such size that the wire forming the spring will substantially fill the aperture, thereby eliminating annoying sound effects.

The damper blade may be adjusted to any desired position by means of a tool 24 to rotate stud I4, as shown in Fig. 2. As will be apparent from the drawings, when stud I4 is rotated in one direction, the metal forming the coils of spring 8 will pass or run smoothly through aperture 9 forcing the damper blade to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4 and in view of the resilient nature of the metal of which the spring is formed, the spring will bend to assume a shape which varies in accordance with the position of the damper blade and will maintain the blade in any desired stationary position. To prevent disengagement of the spring from the damper blade, the free end of the spring is inclined as indicated by numeral 25 or is otherwise distorted so that it cannot pass through aperture 9. Upon rotating stud [4 in the opposite direction, the damper blade may be moved to closed position and during such movement the spring will gradually bend to change its shape from that shown in dotted lines to the position shown in full lines and then to a substantially horizontally extending shape when the damper is in its fully closed position as shown in Fig. 2. When the stackhead or duct is mounted to lead to a room of a building as shown in Fig. 2, the damper may be adjusted to the desired 4 position by inserting the shank of the tool through a grill 26.

Another modification of our improved damper construction is shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. In this modification, the bracket 21 is provided with a flange 28 which is riveted or otherwise afiixed to wall 29 of the stackhead or duct and the damper blade 30 is affixed to the bottom wall 3| by strap hinges 32 having their free end riveted or otherwise secured to wall 3! and the opposite ends curled to form a bearing for a rod 33 upon which one edge of the damper blade 30 is pivotally mounted in the same manner as shown in Fig. 4. The stud 34 is mounted in a recess or opening in bracket 21 and one end of spring 35 is attached thereto in the same manner as shown in Fig. 4 and the dotted lines indicate the position the spring assumes when the damper blade is moved from its partially open position as shown in full lines to its almost completely open position as shown in dotted lines.

Other modifications of our improved damper construction and its arrangement in stackheads or ducts, whether of the horizontal or vertical stackhead type, will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art and it will be understood that we contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true purpose and scope of our invention.

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus for controlling the flow of air in a stackheacl or duct including a damper blade having a portion shaped to provide on one side a groove and an embossment in arcuate abutting alignment, each of which is substantially U- shaped in cross section and a similarly shaped groove and embossment on the other side of said blade which are opposite, respectively, to the embossment and groove on the first mentioned side, and said blade being provided with an aperture which extends through the end of the embossment adjacent the groove on one side of said blade, a coil spring having a portion of one of its coils arranged in the depression on one side of said blade and being threaded through said aperture and another portion of its coil arranged in the depression on the opposite side of said blade, and means whereby said spring may be rotated to adjust the position of said blade.

2. Apparatus for controlling the flow of air in a stackhead or duct including a damper blade provided with an aperture, means for pivotally mounting said blade in said stackhead and said blade being adjustable to different positions, means for adjusting the position of said blade including rotatable means and a coil spring, said coil spring being threaded through the aperture in said blade and terminating in a free end and its opposite end bein secured to said rotatable means and being rotatable therewith, means for supporting said rotatable means, and said blade being shaped to provide a depression on one side leading to said aperture and a depression on the opposite side leading from said aperture so that during rotation of said rotatable means and said spring the metal forming the coils of said spring will pass smoothly through said aperture.

3. Apparatus for controlling the flow of air in a stackhead or duct including a damper blade pivotally mounted at one of its edges to a wall of said stackhead, one side of said damper being provided with a depression and an aligned embossment and the opposite side being provided with an aligned embossment and depression arranged oppositely to the depression and embossment, respectively; of the first--mentioned side, and said blade-beingprovided with an aperture between the depression and embossment on one side, means for adjusting the position of said bladeincludingrotatable means and a-coil spring, said: coil spring extending through the aperture in said bladeandbeing provided-with a free end and-its opposite end being secured to said rotatable means and being rotatable therewith, means for supporting said rotatable means, and said coil springhavinga portion: of one of its coils arranged in the depression on one side of said blade and extending through said aperture into the depression-on;theother side, of said blade to pass smoothly through said aperture during the rotation of said spring, and the metal of which the coils of saidspring is formed being of sufficient size tomsubstantially fill the aperture to thereby substantially-prevent the passageof air through the aperture;

4;. Apparatus for controlling the flow of air in a,=stackhead or duct including a damper blade providedwith an aperture, and having a depression on. one side leadingto: said aperture and a depression on the,other,. side leading from said aperture, meansior pivotally mounting said blade in saidstackhead and said bladebeing adjustable toydifierent positions, means for adjusting the position of? said bladeincludingrrotatable means and a coil spring, said coil spring being threaded through the aperture in said blade and terminat ing in a free end and its opposite end being secured to said rotatable means, and means for supporting said rotatable means, the metal of which the coils of said spring is formed being of 1 sufficient size to substantially fill the aperture in said blade to thereby substantially prevent the passage of air through said aperture and said spring being sufiiciently flexible to bend a suflicient amount during movement of said blade to permit said blade to be freely moved between its open and closed positions.

5. Apparatus for controlling the flow of air in a stackhead or duct including a damper blade movable from an open to a closed position, means in said stackhead for pivotally mounting said blade along one of its edges to one of the walls of said duct and said blade being provided with an aperture, and having a depression on one side leading to said aperture and a depression on the other side leading from said aperture, a bracket secured to and extending substantially perpendicular to the same wall to which said damper is pivoted, said bracket being provided with an opening at its free end and being arranged substantially parallel to said blade when the blade is in its closed position, means arranged in said opening and supported by said bracket, and a coil spring threaded through said aperture having one end free and the other end secured to said means and the metal of which said coil spring is formed being of a size to substantially fill the aperture in said blade to thereby substantially prevent the passage of air through the aperture, said means being rotatable in opposite directions to force the coil spring through said aperture in said blade to adjust the blade to difierent positions and said coil spring being Suificiently flexible to bend a suflicient amount during movement of said blade to permit said blade to be freely moved between its closed and open positions.

6. Apparatus for controlling the flow of air in I a stackhead or duct having an open end, including a damper blade movable from a closed to an open position, said sblade -being pivotallymounted" atone of its edges-to one of thewalls of said stackhead andbeing provided with an aperture,

and havinga depression on oneiside leading to said aperture-and a depression on the other side leading from-saidaperture, a bracketsecured to to'said means and the aperture in said blade being so arranged that the coil spring is substantially in alignment with the axis of said means when said blade is in closed position and saidmeans being rotatable inopposite directions by a tool inserted through the openend of said stackhead and engaged in the recess of said means to force the coil spring'through the aperture in said blade to adjust the blade to a closed, a partially open, or a fully'opened position and said spring being sufiicientlyflexible to bend a sufficient amount during the movement of said blade to permit said blade to be freely moved between its closed and open positions. 7

7. Apparatus for controlling the flow of air in a stackhead or duct including a damper blade provided with an aperture, means within said stackhead for pivotally mounting one of the edges of said blade adjacent one of the walls of said stackhead and said blade being adjustable to diiierent positions, means for adjusting the position of said blade including rotatable means and a coil spring, said coil spring being threaded through the aperture in said blade and terminating in a free end and its opposite end being secured to said rotatable means and being rotatable therewith, means for supporting said rotatable means, and said blade being shaped to provide a depression on one side leading to said aperture and a depression on the opposite side leading from said aperture so that during rotation of said means and said spring the metal forming the coils of said spring will pass smoothly through said aperture.

8. Apparatus for controlling the flow of air in a stackhead or duct having an open end, including a damper blade movable from a closed to an open position, said blade being pivotally mounted in said stackhead and being provided with an aperture, and having a depression on one side leading to said aperture and a depression on the other side leading from said aperture, a bracket secured to a wall of said stackhead and extending substantially perpendicular from said wall into said staekhead, said bracket being provided with an opening at its free end, means arranged in said opening and supported by said bracket, said means having a recess arranged perpendicular to the open end of said stackhead, a coil spring threaded through the aperture in said blade and having one end free and the other end secured to said means and the metal of which the coils of said spring is formed being of suiiicient size to substantially fill the aperture in said blade to thereby substantially prevent the passage of air through said aperture, and said means being rotatable in opposite directions by a tool inserted through the open end of said stackhead and engaging in the recess of said means to force the coil spring through the aperture in said blade to adjust the blade to a closed, a partially open, or a fully opened position and said spring being sufficiently flexible to bend a sufiicient amount during movement of said blade to permit said blade to be freely moved between its closed and open positions.

9. Apparatus for controlling the flow of air in a stackhead or duct having an open end, including a damper blade movable from a closed to an open position, said blade being pivotally mounted in said stackhead and provided with an aperture, a bracket secured to a Wall of said stackhead and extending substantially perpendicular from said wall into said stackhead, said bracket being provided with an opening at its free end, means arranged in said opening and supported by said bracket, said means having a recess facing toward the open end of said stackhead, a coil spring threaded through the aperture in said blade and having one end free and the other end secured to said means, said means being rotatable in opposite directions by a tool inserted through the open end of said stackhead and engaging in the recess of said means to force the coil spring through the apertur in said blade to adjust the blade to a closed, a partially open, or a fully open position, said blade being shaped to provide a depression on one side leading to said aperture and REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent? UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 711,653 Burdick Oct. 21, 1902 852,063 Jones Apr. 30, 1907 1,062,177 McElfatrick May 20, 1913 1,063,645 Boles June 3, 1913 2,177,931 Pierson et a1 Oct. 31, 1939 2,284,912 Maynard et al June 2, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,955 Sweden Nov. 19, 1892 689,188 Franc May 26, 1930 

